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Brothers arrested following chase from University of Alabama to Tuscaloosa Strip; pepper spray used

Waller and Beckwood

Desmond Lamar Waller and Tony Dewayne Beckwood, 22-year-old brothers from Hueytown, were arrested on the Strip in Tuscaloosa early Sunday morning after a short police pursuit that ended in the parking lot of the Publix Supermarket after Waller, the driver, struck 3 UAPD police cruisers. (Tuscaloosa County Jail)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- The only person injured at the end of a police chase on the Strip in Tuscaloosa Sunday morning was a suspect who fought with officers after his brother's arrest, a spokeswoman for the University of Alabama and its police department said Sunday night.

Cathy Andreen, the university's director of media relations, also confirmed that the Tuscaloosa Police Department used pepper spray to aid in the arrest of the man. Andreen was responding to reports on social media outlets from people on the Strip that said they'd been affected a chemical agent as they watched the scene unfold or left bars in the area.According to Andreen, UAPD encountered a man acting suspiciously in the West Commuter parking lot by ten Hoor Hall, the closest UA parking lot to the Strip, around 1:30 Sunday morning. When officers approached, suspect Desmond Lamar Waller took off in his car.

Andreen said a short vehicle pursuit followed and that speeds during the chase were around 35 miles per hour. The suspect entered the parking lot of the Publix supermarket on the Strip, where he was blocked in. Andreen said he crashed into three UAPD patrol vehicles, and the chase was over.

At 1:40 a.m., UAPD arrested Waller, a 22-year-old from Hueytown, and charged him with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, attempting to elude law enforcement, two counts of reckless endangerment, unlawful possession of controlled substances and second-degree possession of marijuana.There were also outstanding felony warrants on Waller from Jefferson County.

Waller's Sunday charges stemmed from an investigation of his person and vehicle, which turned up what Andreen called "presumptive marijuana" and Xanax pills.

Andreen said after the arrest, Waller's brother Tony Dewayne Beckwood, another 22-year-old Hueytown man, fought with officers to keep his brother from being arrested. He was restrained but injured in the process and was treated and released from DCH Regional Medical Center for minor injuries stemming from his struggles with police.

From the hospital, he was taken to the Tuscaloosa County Jail to join his brother. He faces charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and providing a false name to police.

Andreen said it was during Beckwood's altercation with UAPD that officers with the Tuscaloosa Police Department, who assisted in the chase of the suspects and their subsequent arrest, used pepper spray to bring the situation under control.

A representative from DCH confirmed Monday morning that there was no record of anyone being hospitalized Sunday because of the effects of pepper spray or any other chemical agent.